Russian parliament passes Russia-US adoption law

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's parliament has ratified a long-awaited agreement with the United States which regulates the adoption of Russian children by Americans.

The State Duma voted 244-96-2 on Tuesday to pass the bill.

Russian first voiced its grievances about the fate of Russian children adopted in the United States in 2010 when a 7-year-old Russian boy was sent back to Russia on a one-way plane ticket by his adoptive mother from Tennessee. The boy's treatment ignited outrage in Russia toward the United States, temporarily halting American adoptions of Russian children.

Russia has been a major source of adopted children in the U.S. for two decades. More than 60,000 Russian orphans have been adopted in the U.S., according to the National Council For Adoption, a U.S. advocacy nonprofit group.